The high burden of symptoms associated with cognitive impairment in lung cancer patients: A latent class analysis

Jiahui Luo; Ruiqi Liu; Yuanyuan Luo; Qinghong Fang; Suting Liu; Zhihui Yang; Jingxia Miao; Lili Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.apjon.2023.100200

The high burden of symptoms associated with cognitive impairment in lung cancer patients: A latent class analysis

Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2023 Feb 6;10(4):100200. doi: 10.1016/j.apjon.2023.100200. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Jiahui Luo¹, Ruiqi Liu¹, Yuanyuan Luo¹, Qinghong Fang¹, Suting Liu¹, Zhihui Yang¹, Jingxia Miao², Lili Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
² Department of Medical Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the association between the pain-fatigue-sleep disturbance-depression symptom cluster (SC) and cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) in patients having lung cancer and to identify other factors influencing CRCI.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate 378 patients having lung cancer in China from October 2021 to July 2022. The perceived cognitive impairment scale and the general anxiety disorder-7 were used to assess patients' cognitive impairment and anxiety, respectively. The pain-fatigue-sleep disturbance-depression SC was assessed with the brief fatigue inventory, the brief pain inventory, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Athens Insomnia Scale. Latent class analysis by Mplus.7.4 was used to identify latent classes of the SC. We adjusted for covariates in the multivariable logistic regression model to examine the relationship between the pain-fatigue-sleep disturbance-depression SC and CRCI.

Results: Among patients having lung cancer, two SC classes were identified: high and low symptom burden groups. In the crude model, compared to the low symptom burden group, the high symptom group had greater odds of developing CRCI (odds ratio: 10.065, 95% confidence interval: 4.138-24.478). After adjusting for covariates, in model 1, the high symptom group still had greater odds of developing CRCI (odds ratio: 5.531, 95% confidence interval: 2.133-14.336). Additionally, a diagnosis of over 6 months, anxiety, leisure activity, and a high platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were found to be influencing factors of CRCI (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our study revealed that a high symptom burden is a significant risk factor for CRCI, which may provide a new perspective for managing CRCI in lung patients having cancer.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Latent class analysis; Leisure activity; Lung cancer; Symptom cluster.